Drake London’s injury overshadows USC’s QB controversy, penalties, poor attendance, lost fanbase, and Keaontay Ingram’s big night…
Donte Williams talks with QB Jaxson Dart during Saturday’s 41-34 win over Arizona. Dart, a freshman, played for the first time since Sept. 18. (Luis Sinco / LAT)
Ryan Kartje, Thuc Nhi Nguyen (LA Times) — As USC star wide receiver Drake London was carted away from the Coliseum field with tears in his eyes and his right ankle in a cast, any hope of the Trojans salvaging this season seemed to roll away with him. USC managed to come away with a win, but the ramifications from Saturday could reverberate the rest of the season.
Here’s what else we learned from the Trojans’ 41-34 victory over Arizona.
Quarterback controversy
The expectation was that freshman Jaxson Dart would get some snaps and perhaps play a few series Saturday in his much-anticipated return from a meniscus injury. What we didn’t expect was that Dart would be the quarterback for a decisive drive late in the fourth quarter with USC leading by only a touchdown.
“It’s tough,” starter Kedon Slovis said. “Obviously, you want to be in. You think you give your team the best chance to win, but that’s the coach’s decision.”
USC interim coach Donte Williams said playing Dart at that crucial point in the game was part of the initial plan to rotate both quarterbacks. But coaches had already adjusted their plans once Saturday, giving Slovis an extra drive to open the game.
With the game on the line, the Trojans’ coaches chose to trust Dart rather than their two-time All-Pac-12 passer. If they went to Dart during the most important drive of the game only because their previous plan insisted on it … well, that might say even more about this staff’s decision-making.
Tearful Drake London is helped off after suffering a right leg injury on a second-quarter TD catch Saturday. The Trojans hung on to win 41-34. He could miss the remainder of the season. Losing him was a blow USC would barely recover from Saturday and there’s a fear he could be lost for the season. “The whole team felt it,” running back Keaontay Ingram said. (Luis Sinco / LAT)
“I don’t really care what the score was, we were going to play him,” offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said. “I got a ton of confidence in either one of them.”
Either way, USC finds itself with questions at quarterback. Again. Slovis was the more polished of the two early, but he struggled in the third quarter after he reentered the game. He finished 15-for-21 passing for 204 yards and two touchdowns with a bad interception that he blamed on not being able to feel adjustments made by Arizona’s defense. Dart, meanwhile, finished 12 for 18 for 109 yards and two touchdowns.
Neither quarterback said they knew where Williams planned to go from here. Williams wouldn’t offer much on that subject either.
“We’ll continue to do what we need to do to win the football game,” Williams said.
Keaontay Ingram breaking out
Keaontay Ingram carries the ball for a first down against Arizona. He rushed for a career-best 204 yards in 27 carries. (Luis Sinco / LAT)
Lost in the chaos of London’s injury and the two-quarterback split was a tremendous performance from running back Keaontay Ingram, who followed up his 138 yards against Notre Dame with a career-high 204 against Arizona.
With London out, Ingram was the backbone of USC’s offense, running violently and dragging defenders with him on nearly every play. Williams pointed to the running game as the Trojans’ main bright spot Saturday.
“[Ingram] ran mad,” said Jalen McKenzie, who replaced Jonah Monheim at right tackle. “He ran angry. We can feel that. It turns all of us up.”
Ingram was aided by an offensive line that has improved leaps and bounds in opening up holes in the running game. But that offensive line also hurt Ingram in spurts, as 88 potential rushing yards were eliminated by penalties.
“He could’ve had like 300 without penalties,” McKenzie said. “That’s all of our fault.”
Still work to do
USC (4-4 overall, 3-3 Pac-12 Conference) can breathe a sigh of relief after surviving a comeback attempt from winless Arizona (0-8, 0-5), but the Trojans aren’t celebrating this victory.
“We’re trying to go to a conference championship, so we need to play better than that win,” McKenzie said, pointing out the wide-open nature of the Pac-12 South. “A win is a win, but we like to win better than that. That’s not acceptable for our standards.”
USC failed to score a touchdown in the second half, needing two field goals to hold off an Arizona team that hasn’t won a game since 2019. Familiar penalties were at fault for some of the struggles, including a holding call that wiped out a 66-yard rushing touchdown by Ingram. USC had nine penalties for 100 yards.
“That’s unacceptable,” said Williams, who noted that seven penalties occurred during the second half, when USC was trying to sustain its 21-point halftime lead.
The Trojans became complacent in the second half, Harrell acknowledged. Third-quarter struggles stuck out again as the team was held to a field goal. USC has been outscored in the third quarter 70-44 this season.
On defense, USC allowed Arizona to rack up season highs in points (34) and yards (466), with the secondary giving up 339 yards through the air.
No one’s home
The announced attendance of 52,435 was the second-lowest for a USC home game this season, trailing only a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Oregon State that drew 51,564. Saturday’s tally is roughly 70% of the Coliseum’s capacity, but the stands looked just 40% to 50% full midway through the first quarter. Even most of the students did not file in until minutes after kickoff.
To have so many empty seats for a homecoming game shows just how far the program has fallen. In addition to fixing the team’s numerous on-field problems, a new coach must find a way to win back disenchanted fans.
latimes.com
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The more I read about potential candidates the more confused I become. The only thing I know for sure is if I were in charge I’d make the big boys say no. I know for sure that Petersen would be really really good with a 50/50 shot at being great. Same with Brian Kelly. I’d throw everything I had at those guys before i roll the dice on a Fickell, Franklin, or Aranda.
I differ Chris, Peterson has his chance and snubbed USC. Kelly is good, but why leave ND, would USC pay him more? He gets $7.5 million now. I do like Gary Patterson seeing as how he is available.
@Steveg @Chris 5 years ago I would have agreed with you on Gary Patterson but the last couple of years he and his teams haven’t looked the same. What are your thoughts on that?
I believe he hasn’t lost his ability to coach. TCU has problems with being able to recruit well being in the state of Texas. Quite a bit of competition. Also the fact they are a Christian college may not be attractive to some players. Sad to say. I think his record speaks for itself, and he would do better recruiting being at USC.
He had a great run while being in the Mountain West conference and his first two years in the Big 12 he did really well. So, as you say, it could be recruitment issues competing in Texas and in the Big 12. Lastly, I also have concerns due to him being 61 years old and when he was offered the chance by TCU to finish out the season he chose to resign. His situation reminded me a lot of Chris Petersen’s when he suddenly left Washington. I do think that he is a very smart coach, he studied under Dennis… Read more »
A Legendary Coach’s Ouster Shows Just Where College Football Is Heading Canning someone so revered for so long shows how drastically the sport has changed. Alex Kirschner, Slate.com) — “TCU is bad now. The Frogs are 21–22 over the past four seasons and 3–5 in 2021. The defense that used to be Gary Patterson’s calling card has become one of the worst in the country, letting up 31.5 points per game. Patterson has lost two in a row to rival SMU and was likely to lose to rival Baylor later this season for just the second time in seven years.… Read more »
I have heard the diagnosis for Drake London is not good. I wish it were better, but at the risk of being called a sunshine pumper, I think if anyone can come back it is Drake. He has that fight every football player needs. He rarely goes down on the first hit and I’m willing to bet he won’t let this get him down either.
Wow. The Rams getting Von Miller from Denver for two second-day picks seems like a great move to me. These dudes want the Super Bowl.
That’s going to be a problem for their opponents. They have three legit guys who can pressure the QB, you can’t double team them all. Not to mention Ramsey and company.
London Injury Update….take it for what it is. Picked this post from another board… ”Dr. Seth NOVEMBER 1, 2021 AT 4:53 AM I shared with you all last night that he was out for the season. As an orthopedist, my opinion is that not only is he out for the season but also in danger of never being same as an athlete. He has a nasty fracture in that ankle joint capsule. Compounding the difficulty is that he has torn the most important of all tendons, the dreaded Achilles tendon and also the posterior tibial tendon as well as the… Read more »
Horrible news. Thanks for the update.
If he is addressing MG then he is on SW board. I certainly wouldn’t take anything posted on that message board as serious.
Then don’t.
say what you wish about SW, however there are some knowledgeable posters on his board as there are on any board.
I won’t
Chris, no one cares if you do or don’t.
However, you must be a frequent visitor to SW’s board to know who Dr. Gamradth was referring to.
Wow I thought I was the only slacker who posted on both blogs. Sometimes I even edit my posts from SW and then post them here. I was on that blog back when Michael Lev was the beat writer for the OC register. If I want to be funny, I post over there, but I have changed my name so many times it’s hard to tell who I am. Here I am allowed to edit what my tablet posts after I hit post. There it’s a crapshoot as to whether what I spent time poking a screen with one finger… Read more »
Well, I did anyway
Aside from the fact that London’s injury cost him at least $10-million he might have claimed as a Top-20 NFL pick, a tragedy actually, I look forward to SC opening up a wide-open passing attack with maybe 4 possible receivers getting on the field. Spread it around Troy, not to just one “super-star,” because that is how the big-boys do it. And throw in a spice of Keaontay aka Ingram, and you have a recipe that will be competitive against the following: ASU– They just lost again, and have effectively conceded to Utah the South crown. They have to be… Read more »
Do you write the “Tony Robbins Feel Good Seminars”
Bwahahahahaha! We were in a game late with 0-7 AZ, LJ, at home.
John, I am not going to respond to your post simply because it would not be in the spirit of this board. Let’s see what happens. Personally, the 2021 Trojans are the worst SC team I have ever seen (You can go over to Ryan’s board where the same question was asked, and the posters were unanimous that this was the worst SC football team any of them had seen). I doubt this team wins a game. If they can win one, I would love it to be against UCLA. 5-7 with a win over the Bruins is fine with… Read more »
Ryan Abraham @insidetroy Donte Williams said Drake London is out for the season with an ankle fracture. London finishes his USC career with 160 receptions for 2,153 yds and 15 TDs. CBSSports.com — With London sidelined, the task gets ever harder for a 4-4 USC team set to face three of the best remaining opponents on the schedule. Added pressure now lands on Memphis transfer Tahj Washington, who ranked second on the team with 396 receiving yards. Gary Bryant Jr. led the Trojans with 89 yards and two TDs in the win. Kyle Ford, a 6-2, 225-pound soph, is listed… Read more »
This weeks football schedule is so bad we bought tickets to Fresno/Boise St game. With any luck I will miss most of the USC game.
USC has suffered just four losing seasons since it joined the Pac-8 (now the Pac-12) in 1968. The Trojans are now 4-4 and expected to make 2021 losing season #5.
Before the season started I thought my prediction of 6-6 was very realistic but at the same time the worst case scenario. I knew Hugs had done a lot of damage to this team, but it is really rearing it ugly head. I hope that Folt and Bohn own a lot of this damage too. Helton should have been gone years ago.
Many of us tried to tell Folt/Caruso/Bohn the error of their ways. They don’t listen and maybe they don’t even care.
All I know is that Caruso used the words “world-class” if I’m not mistaken. I’m taking him seriously.
Allen, I have been 6-6 for about 9 months. I now think maybe 5-7, but probably 4-8. This D is just awful and, losing London, the O has to become run oriented. Good luck with that with this OL. Ingram is a great back – the best we have had since RoJo, but he is stuck in an awful scheme, behind a bad OL. Really feel if for London – he was having an epic year and was the heart of this O. That role now falls to Ingram. As I wrote earlier, good luck with that. And, I am… Read more »
Newy Scruggs @newyscruggs
Breaking: Gary Patterson and TCU (3-5) are parting ways immediately.
The #Frogs longtime head coach will not finish the season. Jerry Kill to serve as interim coach. TCU will immediately start the search for a new football coach.
Wow. Never would have thought this would happen. I know I might be the only one, but I would get him on the list. If someone told me we could have Gary Patterson as our coach at the beginning of the year I would have done it in a heartbeat.
I’d sure like to know why TCU wants Patterson out so bad, which they obviously do. Now is what counts, not when Patterson was riding high.
Heard a great interview this week from a big 12 beat writer on Mark Packer show. He said TCU wants to get first choice in coaching hire over TTech and others (Baylor and Iowa St- whom all assume will lose coaches. He also said he fully expects that Oklahoma and Texas will not fulfill contract and will be in SEC in 2022. All in new Big12 are fighting to be top dog with Oklahoma now bolting. It’s wide open. TCU believes that it needs to make change to be out in front of new conference.
Chris, That analysis makes a lot of sense. Teams that were thinking of making changes at season’s end need to be making them now. Right now both Baylor and ISU have great coaches. In this world, I doubt they are there in January. Personally, while I prefer Aranda, Campbell would be a great choice for SC. I really do not know why the B12 would not want to integrate its new members ASAP.
@TrojanRJJ I am not sure they can with the schedules locked in for a few years without paying through the nose to cancel games. Maybe BYU can, they don’t have any conference ties and plenty of money. I am not so sure about the others.
Chris, Great point. It shows that OK and TX cannot leave unless the Big 12 allows them to go. If the Big 12 decides to reconfigure in 2022 and the other leagues involved agree, then the league games only can be redone. Of course, the non league games would remain untouched. Thus the SC/LSU game in 20/4 would not be touched, but the rest of LSU’s SEC league schedule could be to allow for UT and OK to join the SEC.
Patterson is one of the best coaches around. Could USC get him. That would be a big win. IMHO
The prospect of playing the remainder of the season without Drake London makes the Trojans’ outlook that much more daunting (Antonio Morales, The Athletic). “Drake comes in every single day and works his butt off,” said running back Keaontay Ingram. “He treats every single day like it’s game day. So to see a player like that go down, the whole entire team felt it, and I could tell some of the guys felt it when I even came to the sideline. … Of course, losing a player like that in this type of environment, it sucks. But at the end of… Read more »
You were great Drake!
Here are five key numbers from USC’s 41-34 win over Arizona on Saturday: 88 If WR Drake London’s season is over, as many fear after Saturday night’s ankle injury, this will be his final number of receptions this season, tying him with Johnnie Morton for ninth-most on USC’s single-season list. 222 That was RB Keaontay Ingram’s all-purpose total on Saturday, with a career-high 204 coming on the ground. If London is indeed sidelined, USC will need to rely on Ingram heavily moving forward this season. 466 That’s how many yards Arizona’s offense gained on Saturday, a season-high. Combined with the… Read more »
Looking at the Pac 12 South. Utah has all but wrapped it up. They lead second place ASU by 2 games, third place UCLA by 3 games and fourth place SC by 3 games, with 4 to play. Of Utah’s final 4, they play both CO (in Utah) and AZ (in Tucson). Those are two gimmes. So, they need only to win one of the other two to cinch to South. Those two are next week at Stanford and then they host Oregon in the 2nd to last week of the season (they close out with CO at home). Thus,… Read more »
TrojanRjj’s analysis is right-on. Utah gets the low-rung teams of Stanford, Arizona and Colorado, so they could lose to Oregon, and still win the South. ASU has to be depressed about their chances, so a lack of incentive could play into their upcoming contest with SC The North is complicated, but Oregon has to lose at least one game, and they have the most difficult schedule between the other contestants, Washington St and Oregon St, who have previously played each other, with Wash St owning the tie-breaker. Washington St gets its shot on November 13 at Oregon, and later Oregon… Read more »
Sean Salisbury’s take on the administrative attitude on USC football is spot on. He says today, HS athletes don’t know or care about what USC football accomplished some 10-15 plus years ago as they weren’t around back then to notice. But they notice what programs like Alabama, Ohio St., Clemson and Oklahoma as well as ND & Oregon are accomplishing on TV & the sports press today and they live in the today. He says the next HC hire better understand he can’t walk into a recruits house and talk about USC flagship history as it doesn’t tell the player… Read more »
I partially agree and partially disagree. I think the SC legacy is extraordinarily powerful, if it is properly led. For the last 6 years, SC has been led by an incompetent. Where SC MUST go is the NILs. The kids will go for where they can make the most money. At AL, Bryce Young is making in excess of $1,000,000 a year. Hell, the back up QB at tOSU is making in excess of $1,000,000 a year. How much is Kedon making? If you are a premiere high school QB and AL comes to you and says, “Come to AL;… Read more »
If you build it, they will come. The new HC, being “world class” should build a product the fans want to see, the players will want to come to USC to play for him, and as the winning ways return the stadium will return to attendance figures we have seen before.
London is a walking highlight reel and to lose him definitely takes away from the desire to watch this mess. Ingram now is our only high point. I hope he can keep it up, he ran against AZ like a man possessed.
The PAC-12 football conference is an embarrassment with the exception of Oregon. But even the ‘ducks will lay an egg as they did with a mediocre ‘Stanford and could lose again before the season is over. I really don’t know what the true attitude among the presidents are in regards to supporting their programs to play at the highest college level to deserve being in the Power 5. But this conference is at the bottom of the Power 5 competitively and has been for some time. If it wasn’t for PC & USC, it would have been even longer than… Read more »
Jamaica, I think the Pac Presidents NOW realize their entire conferences athletic budgets are on the line. SC pulled maybe 40,000 for the Homecoming game. UCLA had their best crowd in years for the Oregon game and then lost to the Ducks and got routed by the Utes. Their season is over and home attendance for the Bruins will now tank, going back to under 30,000. The SEC and B10 media rights are at about $30,000,000 per year per school over the Pac’s. Those funds are used to pay for women’s sports (note, women’s coaches are now demanding high wages).… Read more »
Good response RJJ. I cannot imagine half the programs ever able to consistently maintain a legit competitive player. And that might be the norm with the other conferences of haves & have nots. The problem as both of us know is the haves in this conference are differentiating themselves very little. Looking at division champions with 3 to 4 losses, out of the top 25 ratings and the playoffs, but trying to back into the playoffs by lobbying more teams in including conference champions but happy to be in the Las Vegas bowl playing the MWC. Should we just lower… Read more »
I think the President’s would gladly accept lowered expectations, but the cost to do so is quite high. Not only media revenue, but alumni and donor support as well as community support for the university. It seemed to me that the new Pac Commissioner really gets it and was hired because of that realization. Given the severe damage to the conference Larry Scott inflicted, it is not going to be easy. The Pac appears to mirror Larry Scott’s parity – a lot of 3 and 4 loss teams. That result is a disaster financially and the Presidents FINALLY, I think,… Read more »
I forgot to add, I think the new Commissioner was doing his very best to lobby SC to fire Clay, if he bombed again. The Pac needs SC to return to dominance. I know the new Commissioner gets it; I think the rest of the league now gets it.
So Allen, announced attendance 52K, from the blimp shot, far fewer actually went inside and sat down.
Without London SC has no offense. We saw the last SC win for the year. 4-8 is likely this season.
AP Poll
1. Georgia
2. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Michigan State
6. Ohio State
7. Oregon
8. Notre Dame
9. Michigan
10. Wake Forest
11. Oklahoma State
12. Auburn
13. Texas A&M
14. Baylor
15. Ole Miss
16. UTSA
17. BYU
18. Kentucky
19. Iowa
20. Houston
21. Coastal Carolina
22. Penn State
23. SMU
24. Louisiana-Lafayette
25. Fresno State
Beating that dead horse, Alabama you lost, get out of the top 5!
ND is the biggest fraud in these rankings, which says something about ranking Cinci #2 as well. No team that entered the final four minutes of their game against Toledo with a 92% chance of losing deserves to be in the top 10.
If you look at the remaining schedule for ND, they don’t really have a challenge. It should reflect in the selection committee vote as they look at strength of schedule where the AP doesn’t. I see Georgia, Cinncy, OK, MI St as the top 4, but that will change in the next few weeks as MI St will get seriously challenged. Alabama has not real threat other than the passion in the game against Auburn. As MI St drops Ohio St will rise but not far enough as Alabama will be in their way.
Bama should be below OK and MI simply because they lost. Baylor deserves to be above 14, above A&M. Look at Fresno, back in the top 25. ND is not the 8th best team in the nation, for sure.
It makes me mad when ND makes a championship game or the playoffs and we all know they are going to get smoked (and they do). It takes up a spot from someone more deserving that can at least compete. That said, I no longer get angry when ND is overpromoted to one of the “New Years 6” bowls (outside of the playoffs), because this is the essence of ND: They get hyped up and placed in a bowl “above their station,” and this dynamic (which is nothing new) has resulted in a mediocre overall bowl record for them that… Read more »
I really wonder if the Committee will take only one team from the SEC. If AL wins out and GA has only one loss in the SEC Championship game, it will be obvious that GA is the second best team in the nation. Assume Michigan State and Oklahoma go undefeated. Who do you exclude? AL, GA, OK, Michigan State, or Cincinnati? Fairly obvious that GA is a better team than Cincy and has played much tougher competition. OK has also played much better competition as has Michigan State. My guess is either Michigan State or OK will lose one help… Read more »
Commentary: USC coaching search: Five things we learned Saturday about potential candidates (J. Brady McCollough, LAT)
1. Dave Aranda has built Baylor with a backbone.
2. If USC wants Luke Fickell, it should root for 13-0 Cincinnati to be left out of the playoff semifinals.
3. The way Penn State competed at Ohio State makes the Nittany Lions’ loss to Illinois look even worse for James Franklin.
4. Remember, Mel Tucker is about the money.
5. Don’t overreact to Matt Campbell and Jonathan Smith losses.
latimes.com
I would take Tucker over this bunch, Michigan State is playing with passion. still not sure what the big deal with Franklin is.
I think it is safe to say if Tucker is really about the money, and LSU wants him, they will outspend USC to get him. No way Carol Folt will overpay for a football HC and make him too powerful…..
I don’t think Mel Tucker is going to short-hop two schools in a row, no matter what the $$ are at issue. Dantoni was with Michigan State forever, even though he was marketable to other schools at certain times. That atmosphere was off the charts yesterday. Tucker is not leaving that to come to an empty Coli and the grease fire that SC is right now. He already has a TON of job security there at Sparty. You might as well strike him off your list.
Tucker can go elsewhere, the money will attract him. Aranda is the man followed by Fickell although Campbell would build a rock solid program also. Smith, meh.